


Handle with Honesty

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: Playing with Pendulums [6]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don't copy to another site, Explanations, M/M, UraIchi Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: “Why… captaincy?”“Because in Soul Society, the thirteen captains are the only ones not entirely subject to the whims of Central 46.”
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi & Tsukabishi Tessai & Urahara Kisuke
Series: Playing with Pendulums [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1077834
Comments: 25
Kudos: 660
Collections: UraIchi Week 2020





	Handle with Honesty

**Author's Note:**

> For those who need a time frame:  
> \- This story is set around a year after their marriage, or one week after the events of FwF/GwG  
> \- In the canon timeline, Kisuke will become the Twelfth Division captain in another year's time. Therefore in this fic, Hikifune has yet to retire at this point in time.
> 
> Also, Shinji in canon calls Hachigen by a nickname even before the Hollowfication, so they must be reasonably well-acquainted.

Finally away from prying eyes, Kisuke tugs at his new shinigami uniform. It still holds the coarse stiffness of freshly-starched fabric, so unlike the stretchy material of his backless Onmitsukidō uniform that his skin itches occasionally.

And of course, the haori that is the newest addition to his wardrobe.

Kisuke plucks at the white cloth.

It shouldn’t have gone to him. It should have gone to Ichigo, the lieutenant of the Eleventh, the one person whom former-captain Kiganjō has any respect for. Kisuke is fairly certain Ichigo has both attained bankai – Ichigo has implied as much – and is on good terms with the other captains, so he fulfils all of the captaincy attainment criteria.

Instead, the haori has come to him. A former street rat with no social skills, no qualifications, and who has never given an order in his life.

He won’t be alone for long; Ichigo will be home once he is done with that day’s paperwork, in time for the investiture party that evening. He does not know how Ichigo can stand to host a party for someone who has robbed him of his well-deserved rank, but if the past year with Ichigo has taught him anything, it is that Ichigo is not the type to put up pretences, even if it would him serve him better to do so. The party is likely to be _real_.

_Friends and family only_ , Ichigo had promised him, straightening Kisuke’s new haori before the official investiture by Captain-Commander Yamamoto at that morning’s captain’s meeting. _Only familiar faces will be there._

Ichigo may think he’s being mysterious, but Kisuke is not so unobservant that he missed the Hell Butterflies fluttering around half the seated officers in the Gotei – not coincidentally, all of whom are monthly visitors to the _Dancing Fan_. All of them will be rushing to finish up their work before the party that evening – all of them save for Kisuke.

Kisuke has the rest of the day off, and he is at a loss what to do. He has never had a day off before, unless he was injured. Somehow, he thinks ‘bed rest’ is not an appropriate answer this time.

A knock comes at the door.

It is early afternoon, shortly after lunch, and everyone else is at work. Who will be visiting one of the Shibas at this hour?

Another series of knocks rap against the wooden frame, this time accompanied by a curl of reiatsu that tells Kisuke the visitor is definitely meant for _him_. Bewildered, Kisuke rises from his seat, exits his room and descends the stairs to the front door.

“… Yoruichi-kakka,” he greets, although she isn’t alone, “Tessai-san.”

“Yo, Kisuke.” Yoruichi pushes past him, holding a neatly-tied cloth package in the shape of a box. “And it’s Yoruichi- _san_ now that we’re colleagues.” She peers vaguely around the entrance hall, and then starts up the stairs like she’s walking into her own house.

“Urahara-dono.” Tessai nods back. Unlike Yoruichi, he waits politely for an invitation before he enters. Caught wrong-footed, Kisuke can only stare at the two of them making their way unerringly towards his room. “Is – ah?”

“We’re here for tea,” Yoruichi calls back down the stairs.

“Tea,” Kisuke echoes. He knows where the tea set is. He has seen Ichigo and Yuzu play host to their friends before. He knows how to do this.

By the time he gets back up the stairs again, Yoruichi has found three seiza cushions from somewhere and has already laid out a veritable feast of snacks and sweets. Kisuke sets the tea set down and gets onto the empty cushion meant for him, going through the motions of making tea absently.

Many of these are… he does not dare to presume to have _favourite_ foods, but these are certainly foods he has previously taken more pieces of, at other functions. Kisuke stares down at the spread, ashamed of himself. To think he has made such a glaring error… he deserves another beating.

But he is no longer part of the Onmitsukidō. Their doors are barred to him; he can no longer seek out his previous teachers for punishment.

“This is a good resolution as well,” Yoruichi says, putting several pieces of food on Kisuke’s plate. “Eat before I feed you.”

Kisuke nearly drops his chopsticks in his haste to put something in his mouth. It’s something he has previously shown a preference for, but it tastes like ashes with the new realisation roiling in his belly. To distract himself from the sensation, he forces himself to concentrate on Yoruichi’s words instead.

Resolution? What resolution?

“Originally I was thinking of nominating you for the Twelfth, since everyone knows Hikifune will be promoted this decade.” Yoruichi picks up a delicacy and sticks it in her mouth with none of the decorum Kisuke knows she possesses. “But then the marriage offer came around, and it was a chance I couldn’t afford to waste. Ichigo is of an impeccable pedigree that will please the most stalwart Shihōin elder, and yet sufficiently far removed from the line of inheritance that marriage to a bastard son is a viable – even preferred – prospect. You were the highest ranking Onmitsukidō officer not already head of another clan, and the half-brother of the Shihōin head. Neither clan will object to the match.”

She takes a slurp of tea.

“Naturally, I conducted my own investigations into his character. He is an honourable and devoted family man, young but powerful enough to inspire rumours of captaincy even at his age, and was not involved in any romantic entanglements that could breed resentment. I felt he would be good for you, and I’m glad to see he has been. Of course, I didn’t expect you to obtain a captaincy by accident, but that makes things even better.”

Yoruichi pauses like she sees something in his expression, peering at Kisuke from over the rim of the cup. “You may speak freely, Kisuke.”

Kisuke shakes his head, more because he doesn’t know _what_ to say than in denial. He remembers now, Yoruichi has mentioned this before on his wedding night. She has been plotting to get him… out of the Shihōin family? Out of the Onmitsukidō? He isn’t clear, but it doesn’t matter. She appears to be happy that both of these have come to pass.

Yoruichi raises her brows meaningfully, and Kisuke mechanically puts another piece of food in his mouth, chews and swallows.

“Why… a captain?”

“Because in Soul Society, the thirteen captains are the only ones not entirely subject to the whims of Central 46.”

Central 46? Kisuke is aware of the organisation. Comprising members from the Upper 46 noble houses, it governs every aspect of life in Soul Society. But he is fairly certain they also control the Gotei 13, which is the military organisation of Soul Society.

“Not entirely.” Yoruichi shakes her head, waving at Tessai to slide another batch of pastries onto their empty plates. “For instance, you didn’t see any of them at the captain’s investiture this morning, did you? That’s because the Captain-Commander has final say over most military matters. He is willing to accept advice from Central 46, but they don’t have any real authority over him. Only the Soul King does, and he entered seclusion after the Quincy Wars last millennium.”

She doesn’t miss the flicker of confusion in his expression. “You’re wondering what this has to do with you? Well, this means that once you’re a captain, no one in the Shihōin clan can ever touch you again.”

Kisuke can only stare at her. He understands her conclusion, now that she has walked him through it, but he doesn’t understand the basis of her concern.

“So that’s why you set him up with an arranged marriage?”

Kisuke jumps so hard his plate goes clattering across the floor, spilling its contents everywhere. “I-ichigo-san!” his voice comes out as a squeak. How – he didn’t notice anyone entering the house –

Ichigo is in front of him in a flash, catching him by the arms and holding him gently but firmly. “Hey, hey, look at me. _Breathe_.”

Kisuke breathes. He feels the overwhelming urge to apologise, even though he knows Ichigo will scold him for it. He turns his head away instead, but Tessai has already cleared away the fallen sweets with quiet efficiency.

“Hey, you all right?”

Kisuke’s fingers flex, his breaths coming faster as he struggles to say something with both Yoruichi and Ichigo watching on. He, he doesn’t –

“Don’t answer that question, Kisuke.” Yoruichi’s voice is like a length of a rope thrown to a drowning man. “Ichigo, for future reference – refrain from subjective questions with no lead-in nor context. It’ll only drive him into a panic trying to guess why you’re asking him that and what answer you want to hear.” Without waiting for Ichigo to respond, she continues, “Kisuke, what Ichigo means is, he wants to apologise for startling you. It’s all right that you reacted that way, it was easy to clean up. It’s good that you didn’t pull a knife on him.”

“You’re… dictating how he should feel,” Ichigo murmurs in an odd tone. Kisuke chances a glance at him, but he can’t interpret Ichigo’s expression either.

“I’m redefining his understanding of what is acceptable,” Yoruichi retorts. Ichigo closes his mouth, looking thoughtful.

“I do not carry a knife while in the house,” Kisuke interjects, wanting to make that clear. The only reason why he did not pull a knife was because he was not carrying any, and therefore he does not deserve praise for the inaction.

“You do not –” Yoruichi blinks, looking startled. “That’s –” she pauses, the way she sometimes does when she is struggling to phrase a question to Kisuke.

“I feel safe here,” Kisuke enunciates clearly. Ichigo likes it when he expresses his own opinions, so he has been trying to do that more often. “My startle reflex may hurt someone if I am carrying a knife.” Like the time Ichigo woke him up to eat and Kisuke nearly put a knife through his heart. Kisuke still sets several wards before he sleeps, because he isn’t a fool, but he puts the knife slightly out of immediate reach.

“That’s – oh,” Yoruichi says quietly. “That’s what I had hoped for when I sent you here,” she explains, although Kisuke can tell the explanation means more to Ichigo than him.

It’s the same issue again. Yoruichi appears to think – a notion that Ichigo agrees with, even though he knows nothing about the clan or the Onmitsukidō – that the Shihōin is detrimental to Kisuke’s well-being. Kisuke does not understand why they think so, and he says as much.

“A hundred and fifty years of conditioning,” Yoruichi remarks, apropos of nothing.

It makes Ichigo scowl. “They don’t treat you right,” Ichigo says more bluntly.

Kisuke shakes his head, daring to voice his disagreement. “They treat me like what I deserve,” he declares, fairly certain he is right.

Ichigo makes a complicated expression again. “No, Kisuke,” he says gently, “ _we_ treat you like what you deserve.”

Kisuke opens his mouth to automatically refute that, and then closes it again. He sweeps an incredulous gaze over Ichigo, Yoruichi and Tessai instead. It doesn’t make any sense. Kisuke will be the first to admit that he is socially inept, but he cannot possibly deserve to be _rewarded_ all the time. There isn’t any balance that way; nobody can be perfect all the time.

Yoruichi listens patiently to him as he struggles to convey that, and holds up a hand when Ichigo tries to interject. “I see your point,” she says, waving harder at Ichigo not to interrupt her, “but consider this: what you perceive as a _reward_ is in fact what others perceive as _the norm_.”

Kisuke falls silent. The logic is sound, and this is not an angle he has considered previously.

“You have to let him come to his own conclusions,” Yoruichi is saying when he checks back into the conversation. “He’s a genius and an assassin; it’s his perceptions and preconceptions that are at fault, not his observations or ability to follow a train of thought.”

Ichigo nods solemnly. He looks like he is having an epiphany.

“Shihōin-dono, Shiba-dono, Urahara-dono, it’s almost time for the party,” Tessai interjects quietly. While they have each been immersed in their own thoughts, he has already put the remaining snacks back into the box and tidied up their dining space.

Yoruichi makes a noise of assent, rising to her feet. “Keep the rest of these,” she instructs, waving at Ichigo to receive the box. “He likes them.”

Ichigo accepts the box with more reverence than Kisuke thinks it deserves. “I’ll let Yuzu know.”

* * *

Being a bastard child, even if he is of the main branch, means that Kisuke is excluded from most parties, and therefore he knows very little about what to expect.

The party is held in one of the residences the Shiba maintains in Junrinan, just outside the gates of Seireitei. The relative anonymity is not only for his sake, Kisuke suspects. As expected, the attendees consist of half the Gotei officers, all of whom have a responsibility to uphold a certain degree of decorum while inside Seireitei.

There is no such decorum now.

Lieutenants Yadōmaru Lisa, Iba Chikane, Kotsubaki Jin’emon and Shiba Kaien are competing over who can handle their drink better, with Captains Kyōraku Shunsui and Yoruichi presiding over the competition – and making their own way through the stash. None of them seem to even remember the reason for the party, although it is probably a ruse in Yoruichi’s case.

At the other end of the courtyard, where it is relatively quieter, the rest of the attendees are talking amongst themselves in small groups. From what Kisuke can overhear, Captains Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Ukitake Jūshirō and Hirako Shinji are discussing music, Captain Muguruma Kensei is scolding his lieutenant for rushing through the patrol arrangements just so she can finish her work early for the party, and Captain Aikawa Love and Lieutenant Sarugaki Hiyori are commiserating about the latest reforms from the Captain-Commander.

None of them seem to mind the fact that Kisuke is blending into the shadows by the gate with only Tessai and Ushōda Hachigen for company. Ichigo was also with them earlier, but when they started discussing experimental kidō, he left to make the rounds on Kisuke’s behalf.

“Excuse me.”

Surprised at the interruption, Kisuke turns his attention away from the rest of the party. He hasn’t been paying much attention to the steady stream of traffic outside the gates, because Junrinan is so close to Seireitei that shinigami outnumber civilians after dark.

He pauses at the sight of this visitor. Kisuke recognises him, of course, but his presence here…

“… Kuchiki-fukutaichō.”

The lieutenant of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Sōjun bows neatly. “Congratulations on your promotion, Shiba-taichō.” He offers courteous nod to Tessai and Ushōda, who silently bow back.

“Thank you,” Kisuke responds on autopilot, accepting the proffered gift. Did Ichigo invite him? Worse, is he expecting to see Kuchiki Ginrei next? Kisuke has never met Kuchiki Ginrei before, but from the stories Yoruichi has told him, it would be like having the Captain-Commander show up unannounced.

“My father has a prior engagement this evening and is unable to attend the festivities.” A hint of amusement flashes through Kuchiki’s eyes, letting Kisuke see how a mild-mannered man like Kuchiki Sōjun could have fathered a son like Byakuya.

“Would you like to come in?” Kisuke offers, over the sudden din of someone – probably Yoruichi – being proclaimed the Queen of Liquor.

“I’m afraid I must be going,” Kuchiki demurs, with another amused glance over at the raucous crowd. “Congratulations again, and I will see you at the next officer meeting. Shiba-taichō, Tsukabishi- daikidōchō, Ushōda-fukukidōchō. Ah, and Shiba-fukutaichō.”

All of them bow back, including Ichigo who has just arrived.

After Kuchiki leaves, Ichigo touches him gently on the small of his back. “I wasn’t expecting him to come,” he explains rather ruefully. “Since Yoruichi is invited, I had to send an invitation to the Kuchiki clan as well, but I didn’t think anyone from the Sixth would actually show up.”

“At least it wasn’t Kuchiki Ginrei-taichō,” Kisuke comments. It is practically blasphemy to speak of the head of a noble clan this way, and yet, if he has learnt anything in the past year, it is that Ichigo will not mind.

Just as he hoped, Ichigo bursts into loud peals of laughter. “If only!” he crows. “I wish Ginrei _did_ come, just so we can see everybody’s faces!”

Kisuke has to duck his head to conceal his smile.

“Are you enjoying – I mean,” Ichigo backtracks, “it has been an enjoyable night.”

Kisuke feels the corners of his lips tug helplessly into a broader smile.

“Yes, I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> [cywscross's UraIchi Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/ADFnKTZ#_=_) | [Starrie's fic sneak preview server](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Starrie's Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)
> 
> Sneak preview for tomorrow:
>
>> “I have another suggestion to make,” Shinji speaks up. “It may be possible that Fifth Seat Tōsen Kaname’s survival is due to his lack of sight rather than mere chance. I would like to request the assistance of Captain Urahara Kisuke, who is trained in combat without sight.”  
> “Approved.” The Captain-Commander slams his zanpakutō on the floor again. “In that case, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Hirako Shinji, Aikawa Love, Ushōda Hachigen, Yadōmaru Lisa, Urahara Kisuke – these six shall form the Special Resolution Squad for the Case of Vanishing Souls!”  
> All of them vanish in a flash of shunpo.


End file.
